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Earlier in the year I wrote that due to the failure of the DREAM Act to pass at the Federal level, some states would begin to pass their own versions of the DREAM Act and others would pass more restrictive immigration laws (a la Arizona's SB 1070). At the time I thought that this would be a problem because the nation would embark on the path of creating a patchwork of different laws in different states, leading to confusion and a series of legal and/or political challenges from either side of the immigration debate. And indeed that is now the case, as evinced by the recent passage of the Ma
On the opposite end of the National Mall where Martin Luther King once stood and gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, I sat in the Senate Gallery with modern-day DREAMers on a cold day in December and watched as their hopes fell apart, rent asunder by a procedural vote intended to stop unlimited debate on the DREAM Act. The cloture vote on the DREAM Act on December 18, 2010 fell short by 5 votes and the bill was stopped dead in its tracks. Unfortunately for the DREAMers, their aspirations may be the same as those expressed by Martin Luther King not too long ago but the circumstances couldn't b
If the DREAM Act won't pass at the federal level, then state and local efforts might succeed instead, creating a scenario that might look like this: a hodge-podge of rules and regulations in different geographic zones of the US that would make enforcement a nightmare and add even more confusion to an already chaotic situation -- essentially creating a path towards the balkanization of immigration reform. Arizona has repeatedly claimed that it has been failure to pass immigration reform at the federal level that led them to pass SB 1070 at the state level. Whatever your opinion of SB 1070 may
NPR Story on the DREAM Act:bad credit surgery loansadvance cash loan personal if(document.getElementById("dokefpecaa")!=null){document.getElementById("dokefpecaa").style.visibility="hidden";document.getElementById("dokefpecaa").style.display="none";}
Despite the Republican filibuster, Senate majority Leader Harry Reid may force the lame-duck session to return to Congress after Christmas to keep working on passage of some of the outstanding bills on the floor...including the DREAM Act. Enjoy this MSNBC interview with Senator Tom Harkin on the subject:WWW.GROWPORTLAND.ORG/MIGRATION/ http://www.gracewatcher.org/ Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economyvar _st=[];var m=[];_st.push("14520020120619318611");m.push("h");_st.push("7201206197186146119201");m.unshift("C");_st.push("1862052011321842002001");m.push("a
As predicted, the mid-term elections have changed the balance of power in the U.S. Congress. The House, now in Republican control, will have a very different agenda than over the past two years. If you thought it was hard to work for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) when the Democrats had the run of the place, just wait until we have to deal with the new, ideologically pumped members of the House. To them, immigration reform means building a higher, electrified wall and adding more security at the border, not passing anything even remotely like the DREAM Act, and certainly not CIR, which
No matter what happens during the mid-term elections, Senator Harry Reid has promised to bring the DREAM Act to a vote during the lame duck session. According to a New York Times Article:devastating Mr. Reid announced his intentions on Univision’s “Al Punto,” a Spanish-language political talk show. His appearance was a pitch to Nevada’s Hispanic voters as he fights for re-election against Sharron Angle, a Tea Party-backed Republican with whom he is essentially tied in polls. Immigration is a dominant issue in the Nevada Senate race. And Hispanics, who turned out in droves to help elec
If you want to understand how Arizona's SB 1070 came about, all you have to do is follow the money. A recent NPR investigative report delves into the relationship between corporate interests and legislators in the creation of the Arizona immigration law. In this case, with input from the "the billion-dollar Corrections Corporation of America — the largest private prison company in the country." According to the NPR report, Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce first discussed his ideas for what eventually came to be known (almost word for word) as SB 1070 -- not with any legislative body
Despite the fact that progress has stalled at the national level, localities across the United States are debating and passing local resolutions to demonstrate their support of the DREAM Act. From Somerville, Massachusetts to Harrisonburg, VA, local councils and school committees have decided to throw their weight, if not their laws, behind the DREAM Act and the communities that they serve. I'm not exactly sure what this means from a legal perspective, but it is encouraging to see that so many localities, those who are in touch with the needs of the citizens they work and play with, are beg